Unlocking Secrets
by fill-it-in
Summary: Brianne Hunter was left by her mother when she was a young girl. Her father barely talks to her. She is ignored by mostly everyone except for a few servants. (they live in a mansion.) One day, a letter comes to the manor. It causes a disturbance, and Br
1. Behind the Bookcase

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. Brianne and her family are creations of my own though.

**Authors Note:** I had a prologue up before, but it was dreadfully boring, and you don't need it to understand. Anyways, as only one person has read the prologue (that I know of), ill probably keep it a secret anyways. The prologue told about why Brianne's mother left, (she's not a bad person!) Well, hope you all like the story! PLEEEEEZE review for me!

**Behind the Bookcase**

DONG! DONG! DONG!

"Ohhhhhh…," moaned a large lump from under silk covers, "Why must we start the day so early?"

The bell rang again. "Come on servants, get you're lazy arses out of bed!" came the gruff voice of a woman.

Clumsily untangling from the covers came a short girl, about eleven years of age with beautiful golden wavy hair that stopped mid-back. Rubbing her brown golden specked eyes, she walked over to the other side of her richly decorated room, and pulled back her curtains. Light immediately swarmed through the room, bouncing off all the vibrant pictures hanging on the walls. She hated those pictures. They were pictures of men she didn't know, all dressed up in extravagant clothing, wearing crowns. She supposed they must've been passed kings of England, but she wasn't sure. She hated history, and she never paid any attention when her governess Ms. Leary lectured her on how important knowing the past of her country was. Brianne still felt that history was pointless, as was science, math, French, and English. Well actually, English wasn't sooo bad. But she did think knowing sentence structure was pointless. When her governess tried (with no progress) to help her understand it, she only replied:

"I really doubt weather my boss for the London Post is really going to ever fire me if I don't know weather the subject goes after the verb or vice-versa."

She loved seeing the annoyed expression on her governess's faces. She'd had three in the past year alone, and it was only May. She'd had dozens of them in her life time, each one resigning because of her, 'in cooperation, and 'cheek'. She laughed at that, but her father found the matter not at all amusing. He barely ever spoke to her, but when he did, it was only if there was a serious matter, and even then, he acted as though she were not physically there, for he never once looked her in the eye.

"COME ON YOU ALL! GET UP!" came the woman's voice once again. Brianne grabbed her slippers and robe and hurried down the stairs.

"Good morning darlin," said the woman who'd shouted earlier. She was a round woman, quite tall. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun, and her clothes were grey and a bit tattered.

"Breakfast time. Now get yerself down there 'fore yer father has a right fit," she said.

"Oh Loretta, why must I get up so early? I'm not a servant!" cried Brianne.

"Father," replied Loretta, knowing she need not say anymore.

Brianne scowled at that. Her father was always angry whenever she or her stepbrothers and stepsister were late for a meal. She ran down the stairs, and almost breaking her leg tripping over her cat Bronzer, she ran down to the smaller dining room where the family ate when there was no company. Even being the smallest of the three dining rooms it was very large, with a long oval table, with eight big chairs that looked like thrones.

"Oh Brianne ma cherie, why are you not properly dressed? It iz not polite to be in zos clothes around small boiz," said her stepmother, speaking with her classy French accent.

"Sorry Francine, but I woke up to late to change."

Francine gave her a look, "Eizer call me Madame, or nozing at all."

"Sorry, Madame," said Brianne, the last word dripping in sarcasm.

A door suddenly opened near Raya's (her step-sister's) chair, and in walked Gil Hunter, billionaire of England.

He gave Brianne a sharp disapproving look at her garmets, and then sat down. He avoided talking to her as much as he could. She never really understood why, but she knew that it did have something to do with her mother. He never spoke of her, and when she asked him once, he had told her it was getting late and she 'best be off to bed', even though it had only been 7 o'clock. She had never seen a picture of her mother before. The only thing she knew was her name. Margaret. Margaret Stilson Hunter. She'd learned it from one of the servants a long time ago. The only thing they can tell her though is that she just up and left one day. No one knows why though. They all say that she is the spitting image of her though. She was suddenly startled out of her thoughts when a hand tapped her on the shoulder.

"Pass the jam please Brianne," squeaked her five year old step-brother Michael.

"Sure," she said dreamily.

After Breakfast, she ran back up to her room in the attic. She knew her father put her up there so that she'd be as far away from him and his family as possible, and she supposed he only furnished her room with lovely things to keep her distracted from roaming the rest of the house and disturbing them.

She thumped down on her bed and began stroking her kitten Bronzer.

"Hello Bronzie, mummies back," she cooed. She'd found him only a yesterday out in the garden, and she just couldn't let him go hungry, so she convinced the head of housekeeping, Loretta, that she would train him to only go to the bathroom outside, and would eat in her room. Reluctantly, Loretta had agreed.

"Well, what do you want to do to day? Go chase mice in the garden, scare the gardener's dog again? Or maybe- hey, what are you doing?" she was stopped short by Bronzer's sudden strange behavior. He was sniffing fervently around her bookshelf, knocking books off the bottom shelf with his tail.

Brianne slowly got off the bed and walked over to him, but his attention never swayed from the bookshelf. She'd read a few books from them, but most were boring, so she'd never paid much attention to them.

She went over to the spot that Bronzer was now sniffing, and ran her hands around it, not quite sure what she was looking for. There was something there. She didn't know what, but there was something. It was almost as though something inside of her was reassuring her, pushing her forward. She felt up along the side of the bookcase until her fingers stopped at a small knot in the side of the oak. She gently put her finger inside, and then jumped back. Something was happening.

**me:** Sorry to stop here! But hopefully the next chap will be up by tomorrow!


	2. Promise Me This

**Author's Note:** In this chapter, you'll be finding out whyMargaret/Meg/**Brianne's mother **left.

Chapter 2

The bookcase swung open, revealing a small and dusty room. It had wooden chests and boxes everywhere. There was a strange….feeling…. protruding from that room, some powerful feeling that Brianne just couldn't describe.

Bronzer scampered in, sniffing the dusty boxers, and then started sneezing.

Brianne cautiously followed. The dust on the floor layered so thick, she made footprints. This room had obviously been neglected for years. She doubted weather any of the servants knew it was here, or it certainly wouldn't be so filthy.

Curious at what this room contained, she stepped over to one of the boxes, opened it, and pulled out something long and black. Unfolding it properly so that she could see what it was, she found that it was a robe trimmed with a bright red cloth. Stitched onto the front was a label.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," she whispered to herself. 'Witchcraft and Wizardry? What in the world was this about? It must be an old Halloween costume,' she thought.

She slipped it on, and surprisingly, it fit so perfectly it could've been made for her. Still wearing the robe, she searched through some of the other boxes, and what she found intrigued her. There were dozens of books on strange things she'd never heard about, like necromancy, and occulemency. There were all kinds of odds-and-ends that she'd never seen before. Some of them whirled around, making funny little noises, and others would turn strange colors when you touched them. She found more robes like the one she was wearing, and more strange clothes.

After searching through all the boxes on one seid, she walked over to the other side of the room. Finding a big trunk, she wiped the dust of the top, revealing some old faded handwriting.

"Margaret Jaston! This must've been my mothers before she left!" she cried, and enthusiastically lifted the top up.

Everything in the trunk was crammed in. On the top was a beautiful old leather album. Carefully, so not to do any damage to it, she picked it up. Opening it, she expected to find pictures of her mother and possibly even her father, when they were happily married, but what she found though gave her the shock of her life.

"Loretta! Loretta! Where are you?" screamed Brianne, running down the stairs, "Loretta! Whe-, oof!" she was suddenly stopped short by a large something that had stepped right in front of where she was running.

"Calm down gerl, or its both our arses that'll be punished."

"Oh thank goodness I found you Loretta! Look what I found!" she shoved the photo album under Loretta's nose.

Loretta opened the album and stared, quite shocked.

"You see it to Loretta? You see the pictures moving too?"

But what next came out of Loretta's mouth was not what Brianne had expected to hear.

"Where did you find this gerl?" she said it almost angrily.

"What? You're not at all surprised at this?" cried Brianne, not quite understanding the way Loretta was reacting to this.

"Loretta, what on earth-, I don't- Oh Loretta, please explain, I'm so confused!"

"Oh child, I'm not sure I should be telling you this. I promised the lady that I would, but now that I'm sure its true. Oh it just seems utterly impossible, and I-,"

"What lady? My mother? You know something about my mother? But- you said you didn't know anything about her besides her name!" Brianne cried almost shouting. It was impossible for her to contain her excitement.

"Keep it down! Or we'll get caught," Loretta said, and then quietly she said, "Show me where you found this, and I shall tell you what I know about yer mother."

"Here it is," Brianne said, pointing into the room.

"Why didn't you close it?" hissed Loretta.

Brianne, gave an uncomfortable look before saying, "Now tell me about my mother!"

Sighing, Loretta said, "Alright, but you'd better sit down."

flashback, 10 years earlier.

Loretta was just getting into bed when someone knocked on her bedroom door. She quickly grabbed her robe, and said, "Come in!"

Margaret Hunter walked in through the door.

"Lady! What are you doing here! You havn't been around the manor in over two weeks! There's been a lot of talk among the servants. Sasha Howards is sayin she heard you and Mr. Hunter quarreling about something the night you left! Must've been a bloody big row for you to just up-and-leave. I nev-,"

"Hush Loretta. I don't have much time here. I've only come to tell you something very, very important. You must follow through with this, and you mustn't say a word to anyone. Not even Mr. Hunter."

Loretta remained silent, but a quizzical look spread across her face.

"I didn't choose to leave the manor, I was thrown out by 'my husband.' I suppose Ms. Howard didn't hear what we were quarreling about? No, or she would've said. Well, I- have a secret Loretta. A very-big-secret. I am going to repeat this secret to you, and you must promise me that you shall never utter a word of it-to anyone. Do you promise?"

"Of course 'mem," she said, her voice quivering a bit.

"Loretta, I'm a witch, and so is Brianne. When I told my husband that, he went bizerk and forced me to leave," she paused for a moment, letting it sink in.

Loretta had a cross between shock and amusment on her face. She obviously didn't know if it were some sort of joke, or the truth.

"I'm telling the truth Loretta! Now you mustn't ever forget what I'm about to tell you, alright?"

Loretta nodded, but she had a dazed look in her eyes as though she'd just been hit over the head with a frying pan.

"Loretta! Snap out of it, this is really important!"

"I'm sorry 'mem, but this is just a bit hard for me to believe, but go on..."

Speaking hurridly, Meg explained to Loretta the favor she needed. "The summer of Brianne's eleventh birthday, a letter should arrive. It will be sealed with the Hogwarts crest. Hogwarts is the wizarding school she will go to. Now you must make sure you get that letter! I'm positive if her father finds out that she is getting letters from the magical world he will do something terribly rash, and he most certainly will not allow her to attend Hogwarts. Now here's where you come in Loretta. You must make sure that she gets that letter! And you must make sure she gets to Hogwarts! You can't let her father see the letter either, or there will be some serious trouble, alright?"

Loretta nodded, still looking confused. 

"Now you promise that you will do this for me? For Brianne?"

"Of course I shall 'mem," Loretta said, her voice sounding meek and still a bit shocked.

"Thank you Loretta, you have no idea how heavy a weight's been lifted off my shoulders. I must bid you adieu now, for I have very important places to be."

"Wait 'mem, where are you going?"

Meg paused, then said, "You know about all those strange people who've suddenly been seen wearing strange clothing? Yes, well, those people are from my world, the magical world. In the magical world there is one wizard that almost all of us fear. We fear him so much, we do not even speak his name. Three weeks ago, he was vanquished….by…. a one year old boy. The boy's parents were killed by this dark wizard first though. The boy's mother was my best friend, and now I fight for her and her husband's lives, seeking out the dark wizards followers, and giving them what they deserve."

Loretta just stood there in her dressing gown looking stunned.

"I must go Loretta. Remember what you promised me!" and she was gone with a loud pop.

end flashback

"That is all I know child. I know nothing more."

Brianne was staring at the wall now, her face screwed up in deep thoughts.

About a minute later she whispered, "I'm a… witch?"

Loretta sighed, "I never really believed it until today, but yes child. You're a witch."

Brianne gulped. She was a witch. She of all people was a witch. She was going to go to a school where she was going to learn how to use magic. Then suddenly:

"Loretta! This is the summer of my eleventh birthday! It could be coming any day now!"

She ran out of the room before Loretta had a chance to reply, and ran down the stairs. The postman usually came at this time of day, and maybe this would be the day! In fact, if it didn't come soon, then it might never, for it was already the middle of July!

She ran to the front door, and pulled it open, but was startled to see her father standing in the main entrance. He looked pale, and he was holding a letter written on a long piece of parchment. On the floor at his feet was, surprisingly, a large drop of what looked like, bird poop? And next to it, a bright green envelope. She could make out the words,

Brianne Hunter, and then she could read the word, attic, somewhere after that.

Her father suddenly looked up, noticing her for the first time.

"Brianne," he said. She knew this was big, because he hated talking to her, "I'm sorry to have to do this, but it's my only option. You will have to stay down in the dungeons for the rest of the summer."


	3. Down in the Dungeons

**Author's Note**: Sorry about the cliffhanger. There's gonna be another in this chapter as well, but I don't think there'll be one in the one after this.

This'll be a short chap. One; I only have half an hour to write it, quickly check it, and put it up. Two; the scene is a bit boring, and if I added stuff to it, it'd just be filling up empty space, so there'd be no point.

Chapter 3

Down in the Dungeon

Brianne stared in shock. For one, she hadn't even known there were dungeons in this manor! But once she thought about it, she supposed it would fit, as this used to be an old castle.

And two, HER FATHER HAD FOUND OUT!! How could he have? How could the letter have come at that particular time? If it had been one minute later, she probably would be sitting up in her room, talking to Loretta about her future in the magical world.

Although she already knew the answer, she asked, "What have I done to be put into dungeons father? I've never been badly punished for something I can't remember doing!"

Gil glared at her, daring to question him! "You have done nothing Brianne, but as you know, I am a very rich man, and people will do almost anything to steal some of my money. There have been some warnings now that someone is planning a ransom kidnap, and they're planning to kidnap you. It is for your own protection. No one will ever find you in the dungeons. No one," he said, with a slight look of satisfaction.

Brianne knew that he was lying. She knew that the reason he was locking her up in the dungeons was because he didn't want her being swept off to some wizarding school to learn magic. She now knew that her father hated magic. She still wasn't sure why, but she knew that he did, and he wouldn't want a daughter of his being taught how to use it.

"Follow me now Brianne. I will have some of the comforts of your bedroom sent down so that your stay there isn't so unpleasant. I know that this all seems rash, but this is all for your safety."

Brianne stood there, not sure of what to do. She could bolt right out the door. She was in the perfect position to do so as her father had walked behind her, and nothing was blocking her from running out. But no, she would be caught. There are guards all along the manor wall, and even so, she couldn't just leave Bronzer, and Loretta. "And all your mothers things," said a small voice inside of her.

"Al-alright," she said, and reluctantly followed her father out of the main hall, past the kitchens, and to a long stone spiral staircase. She counted the steps as she went down.

"103, 104, 105," she continued counting. 'Wow, 111 steps. We must be really far underground now,' she thought.

Once they reached the bottom step, she looked around. It actually wasn't that bad. Her father was planning to build a saloon and spa down here, so half of the dungeon had marble all along the side. The workers hadn't finished it yet. The other half though was dark and bleak.

She was disappointed to find that here was walking over to the right, the stony side. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'At least she'd have something nice to look at."

He led her to the very last cell. It was larger than the ones you saw on television. 'They must've held than one person,' she thought.

"I'll have a proper mattress and some lighting brought down for you. I'll make sure Loretta is sent with some of your homework as well. I believe that Ms. Leary has asked you to please read A Wind in the Willows? Well, you have plenty of now," (he said, looking very snotty), "so why not start it?"

"Sure," Brianne said in bemused tone, "Why not."

Not twenty minutes later, Loretta was gibbering away about how she had let 'The Lady' down, and how she had to find someway to get Brianne to that magic school.

"Oh, I have failed," she moaned.

"It really isn't your fault Loretta," replied Brianne for the hundredth time, "Now calm down. I'm a witch, I'll find some way of making this all work," (she said the, "I'm a witch," part with a great deal of pride.)

Loretta wiped her swollen eyes. Brianne was a bit surprised. Loretta had always been the image of a tough woman. She was so tough, she acted like a man sometimes. Loretta was the last person d expect to see crying.

"Look Loretta. It's getting late. Why don't you go to bed, and come back in the morning, and we'll talk about it then?"

She looked up, wiping her eyes again. "Alright miss, and thank you for…."

"Please Loretta, its fine. Now go up bed. We've got a lot of planning to do tomorrow."

Loretta shuffled her way to the stairs before turning around. She gave one last pained look, and then ran up the stairs.

"Hey Bronzie. How you doing kitty?" she asked Bronzer. Loretta had brought him down with a few books and some chocolate that had been out of date since two days ago.

Brianne down on mattress that had been placed on the floor for her. It wasn't as comfortable as her bed, but it wasn't too bad.

Fingering a little dent in the floor, she thought about what had happened.

She really had no idea how she was going to get out of this.

She pushed harder in dent.

She really wanted to go to Hogwarts.

Her finger barely fit through.

She was angry with her father for putting her in here.

She trieo find the bottom of the dent.

'Why does he hate magic so much?' she thou.

Her finger started to hurt from the cutoff of blood circulation. She pulled it really hard, until…

Pop…Bang!

She shot upright, and looked at the dent she had just been touching. She put her finger back in, and then pulled up slowly, curling her finger underneath.

Some boards in the floor lifted up with it.

"Bronzie, look!" she cried in excitement, "A trap door!"

**Me:** sorry again, ill have the next chap up tomorrow tho!


End file.
